Volvo XC90 Rear Differential

[chandrag59]

I own a 2005 XC90 and it has 54,000 miles on it. We bought it brand new, recently we started hearing a strange sound from the rear of the vehicle and it was diagnosed as the a problem with the rear differential. The dealer coated $5200 US for repairs and when we asked the dealer why would this happen on car with just 54K miles, the service manager said he would talk to Volvo and they came back and said Volvo will pay for the parts and we have to pay for labor. We took the offer and ended up apying $1300 US. Since then I have beed looking up the Internet about this issue and I have seen lots of posts that say this is a consistent problem with all XC90s. Is this the case? Should I get rid of this car?

[Playn]

I haven't experienced that yet (the differential) but did have a noise problem from the rear and figured out it was the left rear hub that I needed to replace. Easy job to do and about $125 for parts.

[OEMVolvoParts]

You didn't put which engine is in your XC90, but either way I can tell you this is not common. There are plenty of things that are common, this is not one of them. Not the WHOLE diff failing.

There is a DEM on the rear diff that has issues with the pressure sensor and control unit, but that is it. Another poster mentioned the rear hub, also very common for some reason. If you have the 5 or 8 cylinder you are ok, if you have the T6, then I would consider either driving very gently or selling it soon.

[chandrag59]

Its the XC90 AWD T6!! Most of the time we drive it in the city, for ex: Home->Office->Home and the usual week-end driving. May be an occasional 4 to 5hr trip (one way) from New York to Boston. So, you recommend getting rid of the car?

[OEMVolvoParts]

I will say this, if you had purchased the extended warranty it would be a different story. If you research this particular year and model you will see that there are quite a few issues with the transmission etc. They are very nice cars, and drive great, but when they break, it is usually very expensive to repair.

FYI - Today at lunch I heard someone mention that there is a transmission recall/extended warranty coming through the pipeline at some point. It was just a rumor but it would not suprise me with the amount of problems they have. So if you really like the car there might be some help down the road again from Volvo if you have trans issues.

[chandrag59]

Thanks. Yes we really like the car and hope Volvo will do a recall!! I looked at the print out that the dealer gave me after servicing the vehicle and I see these parts listed as replaced: Final Rear Drive and Passenger rear Hub Bearing.

[dickdock]

Hi, I am probably not the bearer of good news, i have a 2007 xc90 D5.
at 45k miles the turbo blew, at 90k miles, the Turbo blew,
in august last year i noticed i had a rumble from the rear, the dealer investigated assuming it was a wheel bearing, only to find the car was only operating on front wheel drive.
The up shot of this was a new rear end, diff etc, also the front angle gears were shot, this involved detaching a spline from the gearbox, the spline had worn the gearbox badly and the gearbox had to be changed this was at about 115k miles.
the upshot of that was a bill of about £15k (sweet English pounds).
well you would have thought that would be enough trouble for one car with low mileage for a volvo, but no i have a warning light coming up on the dash telling me that Anti skid service is required, this results in the car going to 2 wheel drive, this apparently is the DEM unit that needs replacing.
My advice is do what i am going to do and bin it and get a BMW X5
Sorry it might not be what you wanted to hear but it is the truth, this is my 3rd Volvo, the other 2 were the best cars anyone would want to own but after this i cant have another

[Chrisann2]

I bought a 2007 Volvo XC 90 AWD two years ago. I have been very happy with it until the last 2 months. I took it into the dealership (bought used..no warranty) for scheduled maintance. I told them my blower was making funny sounds and asked them to check it out. When I picked it up they said I would have to replace it and it will eventually go out, I believe they quoted me $1200.00. After driving the car for a week I noticed the back end making noise....like a loud echoing and took it back in. I now have been told it could be the rear differential and the part alone is about 4500.00. How do find a replacement part and reasonable mechanic. I'm afraid to hold on to this car because replacing parts is very expensive and I can't afford 5000.00. Any advice would be greatly apprieated, Thank you!

[KEKEPTY]

Chrisann: I have a 2008 Diesel XC90. It is a second hand car, although I bought it from the dealer; but it has no warranty. I just came from the dealer because it was having a noise in the back and sure enough....The rear differential. Approximate cost of the part were I live (Panama)?...US$10,000.00
Considering I only use the car in the city and other paved roads I find no logical reason why a luxury car, such as this, can have such an expensive problem without cause. It is very frustrating.

[Chrisann2]

Wow.....are you going to find an aftermarket one? Also are you going to fix it? We are just going to drive ours until it goes out, after that I guess we won't have the AWD. I hoping to trade it off before that happens, it's hard to believe that it could cost that much. Good luck!